Sarah Swale
Attorney
206.682.1626
253.389.5087
sarah.swale@jmblawyers.com
Sarah Swale focuses her practice on employment litigation and ERISA life, health, and disability claims. Sarah has extensive experience litigating, mediating, and resolving claims of discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, and failure to accommodate. She has obtained defense verdicts at summary judgment and trial in both ERISA and other employment-related claims. She has also assisted clients through hundreds of agency charges and audits nationwide on federal, state, and local levels.
Sarah also takes a proactive approach to compliance by working closely with clients to develop policies and practices tailored to the client’s business needs, working collaboratively with clients to resolve workplace issues in the moment, and providing training to managers and staff dealing with employment issues on the front lines.
Sarah is also a recognized national presenter on topics ranging from complex wage and hour issues to social media and privacy in the workplace. Sarah was previously the chair of the Wage and Hour Group for a large Seattle law firm. Additionally, Sarah was selected as a “Local Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation (2016-2017).
Practice Areas
- Labor and Employment
- Wage and Hour
- Litigation
- Employee Benefits/ERISA
Admitted to Practice
- Washington State Court
- Federal District Court, Western Washington
- Federal District Court, Eastern Washington
- Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Awards and Honors
- Named as “Local Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation (2016 – 2017)
Academics and Accreditations
- Willamette University (J.D., magna cum laude, 1999)
- Willamette Law Review, Associate Editor
- University of Puget Sound (B.A., History, summa cum laude, 1996)
- Phi Beta Kappa
Publications
- “It’s a Mad, Mad, Cyber World,” American Health Care Association CEO and Senior Executive Leaders Conference, Laguna Beach, CA, Co-Presenter (November 18, 2016)
- “‘The $47,476 Pyramid’: How to Win the FLSA Overtime Exemption Game,” Association of Washington Business, Webinar (November 10, 2016)
- “So You Hired an Axe Murderer: Avoiding Pre-Employment Pitfalls,” Washington Health Care Association’s Annual Convention and Expo, Co-presenter (May 19, 2016)
- “Social Media, Care Providers Texting: How Do You Protect PHI?” HCCA Healthcare Compliance Institute, Las Vegas, Presenter (April 18, 2016)
- “Come As You Are — Making ‘Millennial’ Work For You,” Washington Women Lawyers Plugging the Leaky Pipeline Program, Seattle, Co-presenter (January 19, 2016)
- “Digging Your Wage and Hour Practices Out of the ‘Jurassic’ Period” (September 15, 2015)
- “Top 10 Questions I Wish I Had Asked My Employment Lawyer” (December 4, 2014)
- “May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor — More Tips to Avoid the Litigation Arena” (September 9, 2014)
- “Overtime Calculation Workshop” (May 29, 2014)
- “Reaching 88 MPH in a DeLorean: Burning Questions I Wish I Had Asked My Employment Attorneys” (September 19, 2013)
- “Wage and Hour Compliance: Exemptions Workshop” (May 16, 2013)
- “Liability Issues Surrounding Staffing,” American Health Lawyers Association’s Long Term Care and the Law Conference, Austin, Texas (February 25, 2013)
- “Hindsight is 20-20: What I Wish I Had Asked My Employment Attorney” (September 20, 2012)
- “Conducting a Self-Audit of Your Wage and Hour Practices” (March 1, 2012)
- “Risk Management Regarding Employees: Wage and Hour Compliance” Washington Health Care Association Webinar (June 16, 2011)
- “How the Grinch Stole Payday,” Washington Health Care Association Annual Convention (May 24, 2011)
- “Employees in the Electronic Age” (October 2010)
- “Tweeting, Friending, Posting, Linking … Oh My … The Legal Implications of Employee Social Networking,” and “Social Media and Employment Issues,” American Health Lawyer’s Association Annual Meeting (June 2010)
- “The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the ADA Amendments Act – Management Strategies for Minimizing Risk” (March 2010)
- “Ask the Experts” Panel Member on Employment Law Issues, WHCA Fall Conference (September 2007)
- “Risk Management Issues Relating to Potential Claims of Employees,” NBI Risk Management Seminar (August 2007)
- “New Washington Legislation Affecting Employers” (July 2007)
- “Best Practices in Hiring, Handbooks, Performance Evaluations, Discipline and Termination” and “Practical Tips for Untangling Overlapping Employee Leave Laws,” WHCA Annual Convention (May 2007)
- “Hiring, Personnel Documents and Record Retention” (November 2006)
- “Hiring Basics and Employee Handbooks” and “ADA, FLMA, FCA and Alphabet Soup: What You Need to Know about State and Federal Disability and Leave Laws,” WHCA Human Resources Employment Law Conference (August 2006)
- “Recent Developments on the Regulatory and Release Front,” Advanced FMLA Lorman Seminar (July 2006)
Speaking Engagements
- “Employers Prepare for the Big Impact of White-Collar Exemption Reform,” Puget Sound Business Journal, Co-author (August 21, 2015)
- “Avoiding Personal Liability: Don’t Forget to Budget for Employee Wages,” Puget Sound Business Journal Startups and Emerging Companies: Kick-start Your New Year Special Insert, Co-author (October 31, 2014)
- “Staying Competitive in the LTC Industry While Avoiding Misclassification Under the FLSA,” American Health Lawyers Association’s LTC-SIR Advisor, Volume 16, Issue 2, Co-author (November 2013)
- “How to Avoid Getting Caught in the Undertow of the Recent Class Action Tidal Wave,” Issues and Answers magazine, Washington Bankers Association, Co-author (January/February 2013)
- “Do I Need to Pay My Employees for Training Time?” Puget Sound Business Journal ADR and Litigation Q&A Column Titled “Ask the Legal Professionals” (February 24, 2012)
- “Ouch! Social Media Crashes into Medical Privacy Rules,” Puget Sound Business Journal, Quoted (September 2, 2011)
- “In Wage Disputes, Compliance is the Best Defense,” Puget Sound Business Journal (October 3, 2010)